


Arrogance in Youth

by ConstantChaos



Series: Souls Destined for Conflict [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soul Eater Fusion, Angst, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Manipulative Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Not Beta Read, Soul Eater AU, Soul Eater References, dream team, this is just going to hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28952694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConstantChaos/pseuds/ConstantChaos
Summary: Tommy is determined to be the best meister the world has ever seen, and, despite his limited experience, still views himself as one of the best up-and-coming meisters. Who's to say whether it's arrogance or awareness?----“I don’t need to use my stupid fucking weapon form to run away, I’m a big man and I’m going to become the best meister without ever needing that shitty weak form!”Dream’s hand momentarily tightens on Tommy’s shoulder before Dream lets out a short laugh. Tommy is pretty sure Dream’s supposed to wheeze when he’s really laughing.“Why don’t you come along on that mission me, Sapnap, and George picked out? We can give you some advice and pointers.” Tommy’s jaw drops at the offer, fingers tingling with excitement at the idea of tagging along withtheDream Team.----For those of you who haven't watched Soul Eater, please take a look at the beginning notes if you're interested.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Souls Destined for Conflict [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123571
Kudos: 15





	Arrogance in Youth

**Author's Note:**

> So there are themes of Dream manipulating Tommy (and kinda George and Sapnap) in this as well as a scene at the end where Tommy gets heavily insulted and blamed and kinda bullied. This is just generally an angsty fic, so if you aren't here for that this fic might not be for you.  
> This is a Soul Eater AU, so if you've never watched it I'd recommend checking out the info doc you can find in the series page. As of this being posted the info doc is up to date.  
> 

There were many forms of training Tommy had been taught over the years. He’d always been surrounded by strong weapons and meisters, encouraged to become strong himself. If he’d forgotten a few of their lessons, he couldn’t really be blamed. He hadn’t seen Techno and Phil in a few years and Wilbur had always been too busy and exhausted most days to check in on his training.  


So, in Tommy’s mind, waving a long willow tree branch he’d torn off a tree and swinging it around like it was a knock-off version of Tubbo counted as some kind of training.  


_“You’re being selfish, Tommy!”_  


“I’m not!” Tommy says to the memory of a conversation he’d already had, aggressively whipping the branch at an oak tree. It didn’t carry the same weight as Tubbo, didn’t take out a chunk of the tree like Tubbo would’ve.  


_“I don’t want to fight with you if you won’t even listen to me!”_  


“I do listen!” Tommy hits the tree again, once more unsatisfied with the branch. He tries to move the branch like it was Tubbo’s weapon form in his hands, but just ended up whacking himself in the face with the branch.  


A wheeze has Tommy spinning around with the branch held out, ready to fight whatever dared approach him.  


“Whoa, watch where you point that thing,” Dream says mockingly, dramatically feigning fear of the branch.  


“Why are you out here? Are you stalking me now?” Tommy demands. Holding the branch turns into a lifeline as Tommy stares into the black beady eyes of Dream’s mask. Dream’s body language shifts as he drops the dramatics and Tommy is all the more unnerved.  


“Of course not. You’re just a bulldozer that’s easy to find.”  


“You were looking for me? Why?”  


“I wasn’t looking for you, I stumbled across your path of destruction and followed it.”  


“That sounds like you were looking for me. Why?”  


“No, I wasn’t looking for you. Your path of destruction looked pretty similar to something a Kishin would leave.”  


“I’m not a Kishin!”  


Dream scoffs, and Tommy can feel the eyeroll when Dream says, “Clearly.”  


“Why were you in the woods in the first place?”  


The cock of Dream’s head is unnerving when Tommy can’t see his face.  


“You think you're the only one who practices out here?”  


“You practice out here?” Tommy didn’t like how hopeful he sounded. He didn’t want to come off as some stupid Dream fanboy, but he couldn’t deny that the idea of training where Dream trained, possibly with similar methods or similar scenarios, made a few butterflies excitedly flutter in Tommy’s chest. Dream was a legend, as creepy and vaguely threatening as he was, so maybe Tommy was on the right track to becoming just as good a meister as Dream, the man able to wield any weapon he chose with no problems. It was what Tommy strived for, to be the best of the best, to have people like Dream and Techno look at him with a respect they so rarely gave.  


“Sometimes.” Leaning closer to a tree, Dream places his hand on a punched in mark on the tree, carefully running his fingers along the jagged holes from spikes on the sphere that had done the damage. “I take it you normally work with Tubbo here.”  


Tommy tries to hide the wince the name brings. He doesn’t want to talk about Tubbo right now, doesn’t want to discuss their problems, but he doesn’t want Dream to pick up on the weakness either.  


“Of course. We’re on our way to being the best of the best!” There’s a little too much force behind Tommy’s words, not just trying to convince Dream with the false confidence. Dream doesn’t need to know Tubbo doesn’t want to work with him anymore, doesn’t need to know he and Tubbo had fought and may never make up.  


“Then where’s Tubbo?” It was naive for Tommy to think Dream wouldn’t notice, but Tommy didn’t know how to answer that question. “Is he giving you time to master your weapon form on your own?”  


A chill goes down Tommy’s spine like ice cubes being shoved down the back of his shirt. Nobody should know about his recently discovered weapon form. He hadn’t told anyone, not even Wilbur or Tubbo, so how had Dream uncovered it?  


“How- How do you know about that?”  


“I saw you go off the other day in the restrooms at city hall. Not exactly all that big a secret when you do it in public and part of your smoke goes under the door after you’re the only one to enter the restroom.”  


“But- I checked the halls afterwards, no one was around!”  


“You literally passed by me, Sapnap, and George when you ran into the bathroom.”  


“But- But you weren’t there afterwards!”  


“Because we’d already picked an assignment and left.” Dream pushes away from the tree, approaching Tommy and putting a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Look, Tommy, you don’t have to be ashamed of your weapon form. I’m sure you’ll end up using it plenty in the future to save yourself.”  


That was exactly what Tommy hadn’t wanted to hear. He didn’t want to be the coward who ran, he didn’t want to have a stupid weapon form for escaping, he didn’t want to be _weak_.  


“I don’t need to use my stupid fucking weapon form to run away, I’m a big man and I’m going to become the best meister without ever needing that shitty weak form!”  


Dream’s hand momentarily tightens on Tommy’s shoulder before Dream lets out a short laugh. Tommy is pretty sure Dream’s supposed to wheeze when he’s really laughing.  


“Why don’t you come along on that mission me, Sapnap, and George picked out? We can give you some advice and pointers.” Tommy’s jaw drops at the offer, fingers tingling with excitement at the idea of tagging along with _the_ Dream Team. “I’m sure Tubbo would love that, too.”  


Tommy falters, his excitement stilling in his once jittery limbs. Tubbo would have loved to go with the Dream Team on a mission, just as Dream had said, but there’s no way Tubbo would agree to come along and with Tommy on the mission. He’d just tell Tommy he was trying to ignore the issues, ignore why they were taking their break.  


“Tubbo is busy all week,” Tommy lies, trying to make his anxiety about it seem like disappointment over missing out on the opportunity.  


Dream hums, and Tommy doesn’t believe that Dream buys it.  


“Then why don’t you just come along? You can use George or Sapnap, maybe learn to wield other weapons besides just Tubbo,” Dream suggests.  


“I can wield other weapons, bitch! Tubbo is just the best weapon I know!”  


“Don’t you know Techno?”  


“So? Techno’s strong, but he’s not the best! Tubbo is the best and one day he’s going to be the strongest, too!”  


“A shame he probably doesn’t feel the same about you.”  


“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”  


“You two are arguing right now, that’s why Tubbo isn’t out training with you and probably won’t ever again.”  


“How would you fucking know, bastard?”  


“You’re not exactly subtle about it. I mean, you both went from constantly being together to not being within a hundred feet of each other after one of your failed missions that Wilbur and Nikki took over. Maybe this change can give you a chance to realize your strengths and weaknesses.”  


“I already know all I need to know. I’m not stupid.”  


“Well, meet at the northern bridge off the prime path at 5pm sharp. If you’re late we’re not waiting.”  


With that, Dream wandered back into the forest, disappearing quickly and leaving Tommy alone.  
____________________________________________________________________________

“Why’d we stop here? Let’s go,” Sapnap says, jerking his head towards the other side of the bridge in the direction they need to go.  


“Not yet. Tommy’s coming along and he’s got about ten minutes before we can leave without him.”  


George and Sapnap immediately give each other a look, and Dream didn’t need his years of experience with the two to tell him they weren’t happy with the news.  


“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”  


“Because it was a spur of the moment invitation.”  


“Or you were avoiding this conversation,” Sapnap accuses.  


“Is Tubbo coming, at least?” George asks.  


“Just Tommy.”  


“So you really just didn’t want me and George arguing with you about it because _you_ aren’t the one who has to be wielded by him and you knew how we’d react.”  


“Oh come on now, no need to be so dramatic. It’ll be fine. If things go wrong Tommy will use his smoke bomb form to get us out of there.”  


“Since when has Tommy been a weapon? And do you honestly expect _Tommy_ to wield one of _us_?” George gestures largely between himself and Sapnap.  


“If you try to get me on that kid’s sweaty hand I will actually burn both your meister asses.”  


“I wouldn’t want Tommy with fire anyways, he’s a fire hazard without a flammable weapon.”  


“What? But I don’t want to be his weapon for the mission!”  


“Don’t be such a baby, Georgie, I’ll be there if things go wrong.”  


“I’m not being a baby, you just don’t have to let _Tommy_ wield you!”  


“What’s that supposed to mean, bitch?” The Dream Team turn their attention to the prime path, watching Tommy march over to them.  


“It _means_ that you’re a child and you’ve never used me before. I’m a multi-form short range weapon and you’ve only ever used a single form long range weapon. Do you even know how to properly swing a sword or brace with a shield?”  


“Of course I do! Phil taught me swords and Wilbur taught me shields, so I know what I’m doing!”  


“Look, can we just get on with it? He’s gonna force himself along with us anyways now if we try to send him away and that’ll just increase the chances of him fucking up the mission.”  


George groans, loud and dramatic before shoving a finger towards Dream and saying, “You owe me big time for this, Dream.”  


“Yeah yeah, you can work out what I owe you later, let’s just get going.”  


Sapnap sends one last glare to Tommy before transforming right onto Dream’s left hand. It’s strange seeing Sapnap’s weapon form, unlike any weapon Tommy had ever seen. Then again, Tommy had never seen more than a handful of illustrations of gauntlet type weapons like Sapnap. His form wasn’t too bulky but sharp around the edges, a strange contrast from the few battle gauntlets Tommy had seen in Techno’s books. Sapnap was a sleek black metal, thin white borders to each piece of metal. When Dream flexed his left hand, Tommy got a better look at what made Sapnap so infamous: the strange sparking finger pads and oddly oily palm. Tommy could admit to himself that he was a bit disappointed he wasn’t the one wielding Sapnap if only because he wanted to try out Sapnap’s fire power and figure out how the oil was used properly in battle.  


George gives one last heavy sigh before holding his right hand out to Tommy. When Tommy doesn’t do anything but stare at the hand, George aggressively grabs Tommy’s hand.  


“Come on, dumbass, I don’t want you dropping me when I transform when we have bad resonance.”  


“ _If_ we have bad resonance,” Tommy corrects. George rolls his eyes, but they both take a second to feel out each other’s wavelengths before George transforms.  


The first thing Tommy notices is the vast difference George’s soul is from Tubbo’s. Sure, they’re both peaceful, but George’s soul bubbles and jumps like a spark trying to find kindling where Tubbo’s soul had a calming buzz like bees in a flower field. The second thing Tommy noticed was how heavy George was in his hand, George’s hilt a tad cold against his skin. It wasn’t unusably heavy, but the weight was different from Tubbo’s lightness.  


When he’s sure their wavelengths aren’t going to shove them apart, Tommy opens his eyes and takes in the physical appearance of George.  


There’s an elegance to George’s sword form that Tommy hadn’t expected from George, but now that he was looking at the strangely blue blade it seemed perfectly fitting. The metal wasn’t a bright or neon blue, but a softer shade that could almost be mistaken for silver at a glance. Royal blue leather wrapped around the hilt served as it’s grip, still cool and not seeming to warm at all in Tommy’s hand over time. The pommel had a sapphire with a marquise cut that glistened in the waning sunlight. What the crossguard lacked with its simple shape it made up for with the intricate etchings of a mushroom forest with the outlines of three armored figures, backs to each other so two faced opposite directions while one faced forward with their hands connecting them. Birds were scattered throughout the mushrooms, one positioned directly above the three armored figures. It was a startling complex scene for such little space, but words etched into the fuller drew Tommy’s attention away from it. They read: _Acta Non Verba_. What that meant, Tommy couldn’t know. Languages and reading was always a Technoblade specialty. Afterall, Tommy wasn’t some nerd who sat around reading books all day, he had better things to do.  


“Quit ogling me already, it’s weird,” George says in annoyance. “Sheath me and let’s get going.”  


Tommy moves George towards his waist before stopping upon remembering that he only has a hook on his belt. It’s all he had needed for Tubbo and it had frankly slipped his mind that a sword wouldn’t really fit well on the little hook.  


“Um, yeah, about that-” Tommy looks towards Dream, immediately spotting George’s normal sheath strapped to Dream’s back. “Dream, buddy, could I borrow your sheath?”  


“Are you kidding?” George complains.  


“No,” Dream denies immediately. When Tommy opens his mouth to argue, Dream says, “George, shield form for Tommy. You’re easier to carry like that.”  


George grumbles but all the same obeys, changing to his shield form where he snuggly wrapped around Tommy’s forearm and palm. Now, Tommy had seen several different types of swords before, soulless or not, but the only shield he’d ever seen or used was the shabby, soulless buckler one Wilbur had briefly trained him with one day a few years ago. George was a heater shield, making him considerably larger - around the size of Tommy’s upper body - with an entirely different shape. The metal on the edges of George’s frame wasn’t dented and dull but shiny and unscratched in that same shade of blue his sword form had been, and instead of the metal boss in the middle of the shield George had an almost shiny coat of arms. It had a white base coloring with a rich blue lozenge in the middle. On top of the lozenge was a white dove with its wings spread wide as it perched on a regal crown decorated in red and blue jewels with rounded edges.  


It was strange to see such a piece of art actually on a weapon form, but Tommy assumed shields were just meant to have pictures on the front and Wilbur’s old soulless buckler shield was just in such disrepair the decorative imagery that had once been on it had chipped and broken away from use.  


“What are you waiting on? Use George’s strap to put him on your back so we can get going.” Tommy listens, awkwardly shuffling George around until he was securely in place on Tommy’s back. “Great, let’s go.”  


With that, Dream takes off across the bridge and into the forest on the other side.  


“Hey, wait up bitch!” Tommy yells, chasing after Dream and trying his best to keep up.  


“You’re so slow,” George complains from Tommy’s back. “Dream’s not even going as fast as he normally does and you’re lagging behind.”  


“Shut it… Bitch!” Tommy pants out, stumbling a few steps.  


“Come on, Tommy, keep up!” Dream calls back. He pauses a few seconds before continuing on at the same speed. Of course Dream had to be a nimble and quick guy, of course he would be after all the chasing and hunting games he did with his friends. Maybe running after Dream would’ve been easier if Tommy didn’t have to carry George’s extra weight or if it was Tubbo sitting on his hip instead.  


The rest of the trip goes without much change, the Dream Team occasionally goading Tommy about being slow, Dream pausing every once and awhile to let Tommy at least stay within his sights while Tommy was just trying his best to keep up and avoid tripping.  


When Dream finally stops, Tommy wants to scream out in joy. He doesn’t, simply because he’s too busy breathing in as much air as he physically can.  


“You sure you’re not asmathic, Tommy?” Dream asks, left hand resting by his face instead of down at his side. Tommy responds with a middle finger, and Sapnap and George laugh.  


“Where- Where’s the Kishin?” Tommy huffs out when he can mostly breathe again.  


“Reports say it’s living in a cave not too far from here so we’ll put together a solid plan before nightfall.”  


“What happens at nightfall?”  


“This Kishin kills during the day then returns to its cave at night. If we let it get back into its cave, chances are it’ll make its way deeper in and we’ll either lose it or get lost ourselves.”  


“So we have to cut it off outside and catch it off guard,” George says. “Alright, should we have Sapnap set a bunch of fire traps in front of the cave entrance then pin it between us and the fire?”  


“Covering the entrance to the cave should be top priority, so to play it safe me and Sapnap will ignite the traps and stay by it just in case it turns out to be fireproof or something stupid like that.”  


“Then I jump out and kill it!” Tommy yells. He tries to pull George off his back but struggles with the strap, earning himself an exasperated sigh from George.  


“Just don’t get any of us killed in the process,” Sapnap says.  


Dream turns away from Tommy and George, saying over his shoulder, “Let’s go set that trap, then.”  
____________________________________________________________________________

Setting up hadn’t taken long at all and was really more Dream and Sapnap placing patches of Sapnap’s flammable oil in discrete spots that wouldn’t be too obvious to the Kishin. In the meantime Dream had suggested George wait in sword form. Tommy had tried swinging George at a branch once out of boredom, but George yelled at him for marking up a tree that could alert the Kishin that something was up. When Tommy tried to ignore him, George transformed back into shield form and said he’d change when the Kishin showed up. The next best thing Tommy could think of to keep himself busy was trying to learn to juggle with three rocks. They were small, all three comfortably fitting in his palm and able to disappear if he closed his hand into a fist, but Tommy figured size wouldn’t matter with juggling.  


Surprisingly, Tommy got incredibly focused on his poor attempts at juggling, missing George’s first attempt to get his attention. The second time, however, George switches back to being a sword which immediately gains Tommy’s attention, the rocks and juggling long forgotten.  


“Is it here?” Tommy asks in a voice that barely counts as a whisper.  


“Shut up and use your eyes,” George angrily whispers back, considerably quieter than Tommy.  


“Bitch,” Tommy can’t help but whisper before looking around the edges of the clearing. He couldn’t see where Dream and Sapnap were hiding, but he figured if they were hidden so well then he and George were probably just as hidden.  


After almost a minute of nothing Tommy was ready to drop George for dramatics’ sake and complain, but a shift in the shadows a few feet to their left stopped that idea immediately. A towering form of sickly gray skin and gangly uneven limbs meanders out of the trees, barely holding its massive sword off the ground. Where George’s blade was four feet and his hilt one, the Kishin’s sword had a blade that was at least six feet and shaped like a machete. The slow pace of the Kishin set Tommy on edge, but he kept his grip tight on George to stay calm.  


Tommy shifts his weight in the brush, expecting faint and unnoticeable rustling noise from the leaves. The loud snap of a thin branch beneath Tommy’s foot ruins it, the Kishin’s slumped body straightening to an unnatural posture as its head practically spun 180 degrees to stare directly at Tommy. It was terrifying to have those beady black eyes trained on him, but his terror rose a level when its mouth moved to spread in an attempt to smile that was cruel and sadistic in an inhuman way.  


“Shit, Tommy hide further in the forest, get its attention off of you!” George says.  


A nasty black tongue pokes out from behind the Kishin’s wretched smile, licking over its lips. Something in the action pisses Tommy off enough to make him move, but instead of obeying George, Tommy leaps forward with a yell, charging the Kishin.  


“Tommy this isn’t the plan!” George yells as he clashes with the giant soulless machete. His hilt feels warmer in Tommy’s hand, but Tommy brushes it off as his hands finally warming the grip from how hard he’d been holding it. “You’re going to fuck this whole thing up if you don’t lure him further into the clearing!”  


With force, Tommy shoves the machete away but it’s not out of the way for long.  


“Shield, _now_!” Tommy orders, holding George’s hilt upside down his blade pressed against Tommy’s arm. The machete was barreling down towards them, so George had no choice but to transform, taking a brutal hit that had a metal ring echoing across the clearing.  


“Are you trying to _dent_ me?!” George practically shrieks in anger. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Get back to the plan, Tommy, the _plan_!”  


“Shut up, I can handle it! The plan was for me to kill it anyways, I’m just skipping a few steps!” Their wavelengths slip a bit, Tommy can feel it. George’s arm straps get hotter against his skin, the shield heavier, but Tommy couldn’t possibly be at fault! George was the one refusing to just go with the flow! George was the one making it harder for Tommy to kill the Kishin, not the other way around!  


While the Kishin’s sword presses down on George, the Kishin’s free hand moves to swipe underneath George at Tommy.  


“Sword!” Tommy demands, shifting his feet.  


“What?! No, let the sword slide off of me between you and the hand!” With a click of his tongue, Tommy repositions George so that the hand can also hit the shield. George angrily groans in frustration.  


“I said sword, George!” The Kishin’s fingers curl around the edges of the shield.  


“And I told you how you _should_ handle it! If you want me to switch you have to explain it to me, cause right now you’re just shoving me into the Kishin and hoping that’ll work!” The Kishin lifts its machete, using its grip on George to hold him and Tommy still. “Spoiler alert: It’s NOT!”  


Tommy uses one of his legs to kick at the knee of the Kishin, surprising it enough to pull George out of its grip and dodge the Kishin’s blade.  


“Fucking _sword_ , George!” George practically yells in frustration, but transforms.  


This time, the weight is almost too much for Tommy, his arm straining to hold George. The heat from George’s grip is almost unbearable, but just enough that Tommy can still hold him.  


“Tommy, just guide it back like ten feet! You’re not wielding me properly and you’re not listening to me trying to help!”  


Gritting his teeth, Tommy ignores George and swings again. The Kishin easily deflects the blow Tommy tries to land, forcing Tommy back a few steps.  


“Tommy, you’re off-balance, get some space so it can’t hit you while you rebalance!”  


Tommy twists to swing George at an angle that doesn’t build enough momentum to do more than clang against the machete. The Kishin swings its freehand and swats Tommy back a few feet. It leaves Tommy panting faintly but he refuses to let George drop completely to the ground, even if George’s weight was straining his muscles so badly Tommy physically couldn’t raise him too high.  


“Tommy, fucking LISTEN to me!” George yells, and that seems to be the breaking point. Their wavelengths slip that one last bit and their souls force them apart. George’s hilt burns Tommy’s hand, sending a wave of nausea through him, and Tommy instinctively drops George. When George clatters to the ground, he transforms back holding his head with his eyes closed.  


“GEORGE!” Dream yells from across the clearing.  


The nausea causes Tommy to stumble and trip, falling to the ground next to George and trying not to puke. There’s no chance to breathe, though, as the looming figure of the Kishin stands above George’s prone form with it’s own soulless sword raised.  


Tommy tries, _tries_ , to force himself forward, but he’s not fast enough, he’s not going to make it-  


There’s a blur next to Tommy before Dream stands between George and the Kishin, Sapnap on his left hand with the Kishin’s blade clutched tightly.  


“Tommy, transform.” It’s cold, it’s harsh, it hurts, and Tommy doesn’t want to listen. He doesn’t want to take on his weaker form. If he transforms, he might as well be admitting his normal form was too weak, weaker than his stupid smoke bomb form, a poor meister unable to wield anyone but Tubbo. Can he even say he can wield Tubbo anymore after the fight?  


George struggles to drag Tommy a few inches to the side, barely preventing Tommy from getting hit by the blade Dream smacks aside with Sapnap.  


“Tommy!” George sounds desperate and frustrated, a tone Tommy remembered clearly from Tubbo the day they’d fought.  


_“Tommy!” Tubbo had yelled. They were getting cornered, Tubbo could only smash through so many of the Kishins, they were going to die if he didn’t- if he didn’t-_  


“TOMMY!” Dream’s never sounded more angry. “George, transform back, shield on my left!” George obeys without hesitation, blocking a hit from the Kishin perfectly. “Tommy, I’ll leave your sorry ass behind if you don’t transform _right fucking now_.”  


Not a single doubt forms in Tommy’s mind at the threat, so it’s with a newfound fear that Tommy transforms into a sphere in Dream’s hand. Immediately Dream throws Tommy at the ground, Tommy’s smoke spreading around them as Dream pushes the Kishin away. It loses Dream the second they’re disengaged, but Tommy just stays. He’s not a meister right now, he’s just another one of Dream’s weak, one-use weapons. Maybe he’d finally be useful if Dream was the one using him.  


“Tommy, let’s go!” Dream calls from the edge of Tommy’s smoke. Tommy obeys, running after Dream with a great amount of difficulty.  


Keeping up with Dream is enough of a challenge to keep Tommy’s mind busy, but by the time they stop in a wooded clearing Tommy’s whole body aches. His muscles ache, his lungs hurt, and his heart feels like it’s about to beat out of his chest.  


It’s not his fault he doesn’t see the punch coming.  


“What the fuck was that, Tommy?!” Sapnap yells, grabbing the front of Tommy’s shirt.  


“Let go of me, bitch!” Tommy yells back, struggling against Sapnap. Tommy doesn’t like the soft sizzling noise and faint smoke rising from Sapnap’s fingers, but Sapnap is more focused on glaring at Tommy.  


“Not until you fucking explain why you weren’t listening to George! What kind of shitty meister can’t even listen to his weapon?!”  


Tommy kicks out at Sapnap’s knees, but Sapnap barely flinches and instead shoves Tommy to the floor.  


“Dream doesn’t need to talk with George!”  


“Because _Dream_ actually _listens_ to us and spent _years_ training to master both of George’s forms and using us at the same time! You think he was just able to wield us from the start no problem?! He fucking _trained_ , something I don’t think you’ve ever done! The least you could’ve done is listened and stuck with one of George’s forms to make it easier on both of you, but instead you ignored him and nearly got both of you killed!”  


“We weren’t _nearly killed_ , you’re overexaggerating!”  


“So you think if me and Dream _hadn’t_ jumped in front of you nothing would’ve happened? You think the Kishin would’ve just gone “Oh, take your time to stand back up and figure out what teamwork is” and let you both get away alive? It was going for the kill, dumbass! And George likely would’ve gotten hurt trying to protect your dead weight even if it somehow managed to miss! He nearly did anyways while you were fucking frozen in fear on the floor even after me and Dream saved you!”  


“I wasn’t frozen in fear! I wasn’t afraid!”  


“Yes you _fucking_ were! And you couldn’t even listen to Dream right away because of it! Fuck, the only good thing you did was use your fucking weapon form to get us out of there!”  


The words sting in a way Tommy doesn’t like, digging into a wound that’s never been healed like a finger into a bullet wound.  


“Stop being such a bitch!”  


“Maybe you should stop acting like you’re more than some bratty child! Do you think George _enjoyed_ saving you’re stupid ass?!”  


“He didn’t save my ass! Come on, George and Dream could tell you that it wasn’t like that!”  


That seemed to piss George off, the Brit crossing his arms with a scoff.  


“Oh, so you don’t consider me pulling your ass out of the way of a sword saving your ass?”  


“No no no no that’s not-”  


“What the hell do you mean no? Are you actually _that_ immature you can’t admit to it?”  


“I’m not _immature_ -”  


“The way you’re arguing right now proves you are! First you ignore me and all my advice and communication attempts, then you make me save your ass at the risk of my own fucking life, and now you can’t even own up to it? But oh, of _course_ that’s not you being an immature child ignoring the experienced people you’re working with!”  


“How the hell did you even manage to use Tubbo more than once when you act like _that_ with your weapons?! I’m amazed George was able to last as long as he did with you, but Tubbo must be a goddamned _miracle_ if he let you wield him more than once!”  


Both weapons are insulting him, and their harsh words feel like they’re boxing Tommy in, crushing and suffocating him. He can’t tell if he’s audibly struggling to breath, but based on their remorseless expressions he doesn’t think so. Then again, they’d probably just actually call him _weak_ to his face if they heard it. They’d even brought up Tubbo. Tubbo, his partner, the only weapon he’s ever been able to properly wield and the person he’d pushed away because of his own stubbornness. Maybe they were right. Maybe his only redeeming trait was a weapon form that couldn’t even be used to fight. Maybe he was just a good for nothing dead weight meister.  


“Dream, come on,” Tommy pleads, desperate to find some validation, someone to tell him he’s not a completely useless meister. Dream’s arms are crossed, his shoulders tense, his fists clenched, but Tommy holds out hope.  


“That was your fuck up, Tommy. George nearly died because you were such a weak and worthless meister.” Tommy doesn’t expect it to hurt so much, doesn’t expect to feel his eyes watering at the words. “Stick to your fucking strengths, Tommy, and just stop trying to be something you’re not.”  


That’s the last straw for Tommy, and he doesn’t care to stop himself from transforming and dropping, creating a smoke screen throughout the clearing.  


“Tommy fucking knock it off already!” Dream snaps. Tommy transforms back at the edge of the clearing, and, ignoring his aching limbs, sprints into the woods. He doesn’t listen for any yells from any of the people he’d just ran from, just focuses on running.  


They don’t yell from the clearing, simply watching Tommy leave.  


“Kid is gonna get someone killed one day,” Sapnap grumbles.  


“Is this what you wanted when you brought him along, Dream?” George asks.  


Dream cocks his head, but the weapons can practically hear the smile when he says, “Maybe.”  


“If you knew he was going to put us at risk, why the hell did you let him wield George? Did you seriously want George to get hurt?”  


“Oh come on, of course I didn’t want that. Tommy just happened to be a worse meister than I thought.”  


“So you wanted us to get pissed and yell at him? That sounds fucked as hell, Dream.”  


“Yeah, but he needed it. He was a hundred pegs too high for his pathetic abilities and he listened a whole lot better to two angry weapons than he would have to me. Besides, I planned everything out, neither of you were in any real danger. I needed Tommy to leave me alone and now his ego has also been corrected. Maybe he’ll actually fucking learn from this.”  


“Doubt it, and you owe us big time for this.”  


“You can have my pay for the mission, we gotta go back and kill that Kishin. Now that Tommy’s gone cave hunting shouldn’t be a problem.”  


George and Sapnap give each other a look.  
“You pay both of us what you would’ve made,” Sapnap says.  


Dream scoffs. “Oh come on.”  


“Take it or leave it, Dream,” George says. “We’ll go on strike, maybe find another meister in the meantime.”  


Dream logically knows it’s not a threat that he’ll need to worry about being followed through on, but it doesn’t stop him from sighing aggressively.  


“Fine, deal, let’s just go take care of that Kishin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all the discord buddies who helped with this. There may be a sequel piece to this, however its release date is not currently set in stone and I may choose to work on different one-shots for this series instead.


End file.
